Heat and offshore winds will return this weekend

Gary Robbins

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Southern California can't seem to fully commit to autumn. Temperatures dropped to seasonal levels this week, and below normal in a few spots. And the next couple of days will be average, with coastal highs in the low 70s. But then the weather shifts again, with high pressure building over the Great Basin.

You know what that means; dry winds will blow from the desert toward the sea. By Sunday, the daytime high temperature will reach the 90s across inland valleys and the 80s at the coast. San Diego's Lindbergh Field is expecting a high of 84, which is 12 degrees above normal. The relative humidity also will drop. Taken together, the heat, winds and low humidity are expected to bring a second weekend of increased wildfire danger, and conditions won't moderate until Tuesday, Election Day.

The warm weather is delightful, but the county needs rain. Since the latest rainy season began on July 1, Lindbergh Field has recorded 0.77'' of precipitation, which is only a smidgen below normal. But if you go back to Jan. 1, the airport has recorded just 4.16'', which is 3.64'' below normal.

October recap

Temperatures moderated at the end of the month. But the average monthly temperature for Lindbergh Field was 69.1 degrees, which is 2.4 degrees above normal. The average monthly temperature in Ramona was 64.5 degrees, or 1.1 degrees above normal. And the average monthly temperature for Oceanside was 65.2 degrees, or 2.3 degrees above normal. This is the third straight month that the county's average temperatures were above normal.